


Operative Canary

by The_White_Wolf



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), DCU (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-08
Updated: 2020-07-17
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:26:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25153153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_White_Wolf/pseuds/The_White_Wolf
Summary: Laurel is forcibly recruited into ARGUS as their operative with a mission to retrieve a girl by the name of Sin, from an organization only known as The Society of Shadows. Set during the fourth year after the gambit was destroyed
Relationships: Laurel Lance & Lady Shiva, Laurel Lance & Sin, Laurel Lance/Oliver Queen
Comments: 31
Kudos: 19





	1. Under Duress

**Author's Note:**

> This fic takes place in the fourth year after the Gambit had sunk, and Laurel was with Oliver instead of Sara. This fic is also inspired and follows the plot of the movie Extraction with Chris Hemsworth.
> 
> And a special thanks to Okori for beta reading this, and thanks to the Lauriver Discord for their help.
> 
> The Lauriver stuff will be very much in the background of the fic.

A masked woman in black chased her target through the narrow maze-like alleyways of Gotham. It was strange how well the small group was well-armed and possessed tactics that someone like Slade would have used. It was evident she was chasing men with military arms and training, though as far as Gotham was concerned, that didn't mean much.

Laurel vaulted over a dumpster and took a corner following the masked men as she did, she heard a gun cock, and she looked over her shoulder to see that it was an ambush. Five men in military gear were aiming their assault rifles at her and now, so were the others that she had been chasing.

Perhaps she should have returned home. She should have returned to Starling, or even traveled the world with Ted. But in the last few years, she had come to realize that she was cursed. Ever since her former friend and mentor, Slade Wilson, had taken her hostage, and injected her with the mirakuru, everyone seemed to die or leave her.

A man with a mustache, anchored by a beard that just covered his chin, smirked as he held up a small device. "Can't escape, Miss Lance." He then raised a badge from around his neck. "Rick Flag. ARGUS."

Laurel's eyes narrowed before she took a deep breath and as she tried to use her cry, nothing came out. "What did you do to me?" She asked, taking a step towards the man, though stopped when she noticed the red dots aiming at her chest. The red dots dancing on her sable leather jacket.

"All I ask is that you come with me, Miss Lance. All will be explained." He then gestured to the likely armored panel van. Laurel took a final look over her shoulder, despite her training under Slade and Ted, there was no realistic way she was going to defeat the ARGUS agents, not without her cry.

With a final look around, she conceded and followed Agent Flag into the van, and watched as the van door closed behind her.

After what felt like an hour, Laurel exited the van, feeling her legs ache from the lack of movement in the small confines of the vehicle, and watched as a car pulled up and a woman with an intimidating presence exited. "You and Mr. Queen both have similar peculiarities." She then walked to the sole building on the run-down airstrip.

Laurel froze. Oliver was alive? That couldn't be possible, she watched as she accidentally sunk the ship with her cry. She had killed Ollie, hadn't she? His death was one of the reasons that Laurel just couldn't come home. How was she going to ever explain to Thea, or Moira, that she killed Oliver? Never mind, even looking at her father after the amount of blood that dripped from her hands.

The first thing she felt was a pistol shoved into her kidney, so Laurel gritted her teeth, ignoring the impulse to break the bastard's wrist, she instead followed the woman. And entered the building, only to be shoved into an old wooden seat.

"My name is Amanda Waller. And you Miss Lance, will be a valued asset to your country." She then gave Laurel a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "In the event that you should decide to be…Rebellious, I should warn you that Oliver Queen is in our custody. And that your father and Miss Queen are susceptible to being found either overdosing on drugs, or in your father's case, drowning in his own vomit from his alcoholism. Do we have your cooperation?"

Laurel glared at the woman, before nodding silently.

"Very well. A woman of your _talent_ will be necessary for your mission. A woman with a powerful scream shall be a boon for you. And for that reason, you will not be accompanying your boyfriend to Lian Yu, rather you will be headed to Kahndaq."

Waller then turned on the projector, which showed her a picture of a village just outside of Shiruta. The country's capital. "You will pick up your package, a girl." Laurel blinked, she was kidnapping a girl? "This girl had been trained to become the next Lady Shiva. You should be aware that the girl is protected by a cult of ninjas that think of themselves as the most proficient killing force in the world."

Laurel closed her eyes. She should have stayed traveling the world with Ted. She should have gone back home. "You will take the girl, and take her to the designated location. You will be going in alone but will have communications support. If you are arrested or injured in the mission you are on your own."

Laurel exhaled as she didn't balk away from Waller's charcoal eyes. She wasn't stupid, if the mission went bad, because she couldn't handle it. She would receive a bullet to the head before she could utter a word to the police, or her enemies.

"Your flight leaves in ten minutes, don't disappoint me, Miss Lance." Waller then left the small derelict room, and a few minutes later Laurel could hear the car roar to life before it disappeared into the night.

Flag tossed her a pistol. "If you are anything like Queen you will know how to use that. The rest of your gear will be supplied in the location. I'll be in touch. Good luck, Lance. You will need it, enhancements or not."

It had been a long flight, Laurel looked at one of the monitors, before looking at Flag. "How long do we have before we arrive in Kahndaq?"

Flag's smirk made her stomach feel like it was tied up in a knot. "You have ten minutes until you jump."

Laurel paled, and she hadn't ever jumped out of a plane that was somewhere near thirty thousand feet above the ground. She felt the bile rise in her throat. "Until I what?"

"We can push you out if you prefer?"

"That won't be necessary." She said quickly. If she was going to do this, if she was going to die, she wanted it on her own terms. She exhaled. Earlier, an agent made final checks on her parachute before the cargo door opened. The cold wind was almost strong enough to push her all the way back into the plane. Laurel closed her eyes to make a silent prayer before feeling a tap on her shoulder as she made her plunge back to earth.

Eventually, after skydiving, she safely made it to the ground, though rather ungracefully. She felt herself palming the sandy ground beneath her. Terra Firma. She took deep breaths to calm herself, before grabbing her phone. "This is Canary. I've landed."

Flag's voice came over the receiver. _"Acknowledge, Canary. Your gear is located in an old 1978 Honda Civic. It's also the only vehicle given to you so you can recover the package and return it to the LZ that will be given to you."_ _  
_

Laurel balled up the parachute and headed to her car, opening the boot to find a black Kevlar vest and ammunition for her pistol. Laurel exhaled before getting into the car, receiving the key from the glove compartment and turning on the ignition.

Laurel drove towards her destination, stopping down a side street, Laurel climbed up the fire escape and perched herself on the roof to overlook the building that was alone with a stone wall surrounding the premises.

It took hours scouting for potential escape routes and how many guards she would encounter. There were at least twenty soldiers wearing black robes. She watched a couple leave the compound, and so she decided to follow them on foot.

Eventually, she found them purchasing food at the bazaar, she had two options and neither were optimal. She could kill or incapacitate one, and interrogate the other for any more information before using them to get access to the girl. Or she could somehow get them to bring her into their compound.

Laurel continued to follow them, as she did for almost an hour, she noticed that the two robed men were growing suspicious, and made a discrete gesture towards her. Laurel turned away and tried to get them into a secluded alley, except they moved quicker than she anticipated, and caught up to her. "Who are you?" One of them asked in a thick accent.

"I'm here to speak to your leader."

The two spoke incoherently to each other before taking her to their vehicle, throwing a hessian bag over her head, and taking her to their compound. She was directed up several stairs before she was stopped.

Eventually, her hood was removed, and Laurel looked around. It certainly looked like the soldiers lived a spartan lifestyle, and the holes in the walls didn't exactly bode well for the girl. "Why are you here?"

A man with a pistol without a magazine in it asked her in broken English. "You're not the head of the organization," Laurel said calmly.

"She's busy with business."

"I want to see the girl."

"What girl?" One asked quickly.

"The one that you have been training to be a human weapon."

The leader of these men raised his pistol, raising it to Laurel's forehead, and pressed the opening of the barrel against her skull. She kept her eyes glued on the man, ignoring her heart racing in her chest, she refused to balk, even if there was one bullet in the chamber.

She watched as he pulled the trigger, and she heard the gun click. "Brave girl." He mocked her. "Mother could use you to fight Sin. She could use some toughening up."

"Show me the girl, then we will see."

The man seemed to humor her, he opened a door to a small room that wasn't big enough for a grown adult to lie down in. A girl that couldn't be older than ten or twelve years old rose from her knees. The girl had a large purple bruise around her neck as if someone had choked her.

Laurel turned on her heel and quickly disarmed the leader, grabbing his empty pistol and breaking his wrist in the process before pitching the handgun at another soldier and sending a knife strike to the leader's throat before diving behind the bench of the kitchenette. She heard soldiers rush towards her as she peeked around the corner to see the men had swords. She inhaled before using her cry.

_SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEE_

Laurel stood up, grabbing one of their swords, and managed to fend off a couple of them that had managed to get up to their feet. She used her blade to block their strikes, before kicking on in the knees, just as Ted had taught her, spinning his patella. Laurel then received a small nick on her arm, before she drove the sword through the man's shoulder, impaling him against the wall behind him.

She slugged him across the jaw, knocking him out before heading towards the small room that held the girl that they called Sin. It was at that moment, she saw a small boy in the same robes as the soldiers aimed a bow and arrow at her.

Of course, they had more child soldiers than just Sin. Laurel looked at the boy, slowly moving towards him. He looked so scared. She didn't care what Flag or Waller or whoever was the head of ARGUS wanted her to do, she wasn't going to kill, or maim was bad enough that she may have to kill again after she had sworn it off.

As Slade told her once; that she was at war, and in war, it is either them or you. That she wasn't a murderer, she was a combatant and there was a difference. It certainly didn't change the fact that she felt like a killer. But she had to keep reminding herself that she wasn't a monster. A monster with powers that could kill people.

::-:-:-::-:-:-::

She had just driven her knife through the man's neck. The next thing she found herself doing was crying on the ground near the dead body, the putrid smell of her stomach contents that had been expelled in a pool a few feet away from her.

Laurel sobbed as she looked between the man that she had just killed and her bloody hands. She had killed a man. She murdered a man. She's a monster. What would her parents think of her if they knew she was a murderer?

"Lance?" She heard the gruff Australian accent of her friend and trainer bellow through the tree-line.

Laurel couldn't speak. She felt her throat constrict, and all she could do was stare at the warm red liquid that dripped from her hands. The next thing she knew was that she felt Slade's large hand on her shoulder. "I killed him, Slade. I…I'm a murderer."

Slade hushed her as he gently lifted her to her feet and took her back to the fuselage. "Wash your hands." He instructed. Laurel scrubbed her hands in a bucket of cold water, feeling her fingers start to go numb. Her sobs started to subside, as she watched her hands return to their normal color.

Slade tossed her a small flask. "Take a sip, it will take the edge of the shock." Laurel hesitantly took a sip, just for her throat to burn from the liquid inside, causing her to cough. He sniggered for a second but pulled himself together almost as quickly. "Listen to me very carefully, Lance. Whatever you do while you are in a war-zone in order to survive, you are not a bad person. You don't relish it, you don't enjoy it. You are a combatant, not a murderer. It's no different from your father killing in the line of duty."

"How do I stop this feeling?" She managed to croak. "The guilt."

"You just have to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and keep moving. You're not a bad person, Laurel."

::-:-:-::-:-:-::

Laurel gently took the bow and arrow from the boy. "Go." She said softly, watching the boy scurry off and out of the building.

Laurel entered the small room to see the small girl with chocolate-colored eyes. She seemed wary of her. "What's your name, sweetie?"

"Sin."

Laurel held out her hand to the girl. "I'm Laurel. I've come to take you somewhere nice. Would you like that?"

"Can I fight there?"

Laurel clenched her fist but tried to maintain her gentle demeanor. "I'm sure there are places you can train safely, c'mon."

Laurel took her to the car, that she had left earlier, and directed the girl to lie on the back seat, and covered her with the parachute, and directed her not to move. She drove towards an abandoned park. Laurel pulled up behind the derelict bathrooms and got out and opened the door for Sin before heading to the boot of the car to change her shirt from a black short-sleeved t-shirt that now had a hole in it thanks to one of the swords.

She felt a cold hand touch a couple of her scars. Laurel turned to see Sin looking at her with awe. She murmured something, before saying, Warrior."

Laurel shimmied over her new long-sleeved black shirt and handed the girl a bottle of water. "Drink." Laurel also pulled out a couple of chocolate bars and handed them to the girl to ensure that she had enough energy. Laurel almost had to resist smiling at the girl gorging herself on the chocolate bar.

Laurel received a call. "I see that you have our package. Your extraction point is a small riverboat that will take you downriver, once you enter the next country you will have a chopper waiting for you to take you to an aircraft carrier, and you will be debriefed and you can return to being a ghost in Gotham."

"What about the girl?" Laurel asked, as she gently adjusted the smaller Kevlar vest on the girl, giving her the best warm smile she could manage.

_"She will be debriefed, taken to an ARGUS safe house for a few months, and will be educated before she is given to her new foster parents, who are naturally ARGUS agents."_

::-:-:-::-:-:-::

Lady Shiva entered the building that she had once trained in. Everything around her felt both like home and something from her nightmares. She walked slowly up the stairs to see that one of her former mistress' soldiers had been thrown through the steel door and looked as if he couldn't move any longer.

She continued to see more people lined up against the walls, either unconscious or unable to move thanks to broken bones. It had been a long time since she had witnessed someone powerful enough to do so much damage.

She walked up to one of the men, who had a gun not far away from him. He died from a blow to the man's throat. Upon closer inspection of the man, it was one of her contemporaries from her time here.

She continued to walk slowly until she saw Mother standing nearby with her cane in hand. "The woman has taken Sin, we know not if she works for Ra's, Darhk, or another player."

"Why have you contacted me?"

"You owe us, Lady Shiva. Without my training, and dedication to the ways of old. You would be a no one, Sandra Wu-San. You owe The Society of Shadows everything. If you don't repay your debts, we may be looking for a new replacement for you, perhaps young Cassandra?"

"No," Shiva said resolutely. "I'll do it. I'll kill the woman who kidnapped your future Lady Shiva, and recover her."

"You must do so soon, lest she becomes tainted by whoever has taken her. If the time runs out, I'll contact you to eliminate both the woman and the girl."

Shiva's eye twitched, as much as she would enjoy tangling with this woman, she didn't relish the notion of killing a child. There was no honor in that. And yet, if she didn't, Mother would find Cassandra. "Do you have any leads, Mother?"

The old crone gave her a look, "Her soldiers have a vessel on the river. They wish to leave the country as fast as possible." Mother tapped her hand on her cane. "Our contact with the police will be alerted soon, and they will not stop until Sin is back in our hands, even if that means that you must be eliminated." The crone warned, with no hint of emotion.

Shiva's lips pursed before she bowed, leaving the crone in the room with the dead soldier and the crippled.


	2. First Contact

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Laurel wasn't affected by the mirakuru in the same way as it changed people in canon. Instead, it activated her metahuman gene.

Shiva swam to the boat that was obviously designed to look like an innocuous fishing vessel and not one designed for the military. Shiva treaded water, watching the 'fishermen' walk around the vessel's walkways. Despite their lack of uniform, she could see that they were guards and sentries.

Shiva climbed up the netting and entered the vessel, spotting the first guard as she slowly snuck around the large boxes that were strategically placed in case there was a firefight. That would not be an issue. She had no intention of being in a long drawn out fight. As she made it to the guard, she wrapped her arm around his neck, choking him, before slowly releasing his neck.

"Who are you, and trust that I know you are not a fisherman."

"ARGUS." He gritted through his teeth.

"And their purpose with the girl?"

"Above my pay-grade." Shiva wrapped her hands around his neck before hearing his neck snap. ARGUS was an outside player. An American organization. Shiva slowly snuck through the boat and made her way to the engine room, cutting the power, before placing a fuse. Having a self-imposed time limit would keep things interesting.

She waited in the engine room as two agents wielding assault rifles with flashlight attachments walked in. She drove one blade into the back of the man's neck and grappled with the other. Shiva contorted her body to wrap her legs around the man's neck, holding down his arms as she choked him.

Shiva moved slowly around the rest of the ship, easily dispensing the rest of the soldiers before she came to the last man, who was hiding in the bridge. Shiva knew that he had instinctively secured the room, and had his weapon aimed at the door. She would not give him the luxury of allowing a bullet to her head. No, instead she decided to climb along the outside of the boat, and enter through the window of the bridge taking him from behind.

She waited on the outside and waited for him to slowly head to the door, to press his ear to the door, and when he did, she swung herself into the window and rolled as she landed, sending a kick to the man's sternum.

"Who are you?" He huffed as he tried to make a move for his rifle that he had dropped.

Shiva grabbed the man and threw him on the other side of the room. "Some call me Lady Shiva." She said with pride. "Where is the girl, and the woman who attacked us?"

"I don't know what…" Shiva hushed him, brandishing a blade. "I can award you with a quick, and painless death if you wish but it will cost but a slither of valuable information."

She watched as he turned over the information in his head, before acknowledging that there was no way out for him and that he didn't fancy a slow, agonizing death. "Operative Canary is en route. She's coming via the jungle's wetlands…"

Judging from the injured and deceased back in the compound, it was obvious this Operative Canary was trained by special forces, and also seemed to prefer boxing. She also seemed to have some sort of weapon to force her enemies backwards.

"Thank you for your honesty. You should feel pride in that you are an honest man." She said before slitting his throat.

::-:-:-::-:-:-::

It had been a few hours since she and Sin had been trekking through the jungles outside of Shiruta. God, did she hate the jungle, she hated the hot humidity and all the bugs that wanted to follow or stay on her person. She hated it on the island of Lian Yu and didn't like it better here.

She kept her pistol, at the ready. If these men and women were as bad as Waller said, she should expect an ambush, after all this was their home, they would know the topography better than she ever would. Laurel wasn't completely inept at jungle warfare; she was trained by a former member of one of the world's best organizations that specialized in jungle warfare. The SASR. Australian Special Forces.

::-:-:-::-:-:-::

Laurel had been saved by a man with a strange mask, that seemed to be orange and black on either side. He practically dragged her to a destroyed airplane. He threw her into a chair, pulled out a knife, and rested it on her throat.

"Who are you!?" He growled. "L..Dinah Laurel Lance. Please, my parents will pay you for my rescue." She doubted that either of her parents could ever hope to pay for a large some, they would have to take out a second mortgage or something just to afford it, as she doubted that Mrs. Queen would pay for her if Oliver and her husband were already gone. As much as the older woman seemed to respect her, she wasn't family. She wasn't her blood.

"I don't care about your money, Lance." He almost seemed to scoff at the notion. "I care about why you are here?"

"Right." She said. "Right. I was on my boyfriend's yacht and it sunk, when I woke up I was found by those men." She said, shivering at the mere mention of the men that were lecherously ogling her.

Slade gave her a critical look, eyeing her up and down before softening his demeanor, and handing her a blanket to wrap herself in, before sitting opposite her. "The way you fought off one of those men. I take it that you are a cadet in an American Police Academy or something?"

Laurel blinked, turning her eyes away from looking at the sea of green outside, to look at the man in front of her. "What?" She asked. "No. No, my dad is a cop. Dad never wanted me to follow in his footsteps. He ensured that my sister and I knew how to defend ourselves though."

"Good. I taught my son the same thing." He looked lost in his thoughts for a moment before he spoke again. "If not a cop, what were your plans for the future?"

"I am... Or was studying to be an attorney."

Slade got up from his seat and handed Laurel a packet of food that she hadn't realized he had been making. It was in a khaki-colored sachet. "It's an MRE, a part of Rose's ratpack. She and Billy won't need them anymore. Spaghetti Bolognese, I think you got it." He then pointed at a rucksack. "Her belongings are over there. You are welcome to wear her uniform, it's about your size."

Laurel took a spoon full of the food and realized that she had been hungry. "Thank you." She managed to say after a few mouthfuls. Only for Slade to hand her a tin cup.

"A warm meal and a glass of Bundy will help you sleep." Laurel looked outside to see that the sun had begun to set. Time was going way too fast for her liking. "There's only one way off this island, Miss Lance. You have a foundation in self-defense. I can't take the airstrip alone."

Laurel looked up, taking a sip of the rum, feeling it burn down her throat, causing her to cough. "Is it really the only way?" She asked.

"Yes. If you agree to let me train you to ensure that you survive the battle, I can tell you everything. Why I'm here, and who I am. And who knows, you may even get an award from The Prime Minister, or the Governor-General for your assistance at the end of it."

A sad consolation prize. In one fell swoop, she almost drowned, lost the love of her life, his father, and found herself in some sort of conflict in the North China Sea, involving Australia. Laurel didn't even want to think of what could have happened if the Australian man hadn't saved her.

If she survived, how was she ever going to look at young Thea ever again, or tell her that her brother will never come home, that he and her father are resting at the bottom of the ocean? It was where she should be with them. Or they could have been here with her, if only she had swum harder against the currents, she could have tried to save Oliver, and Robert. Instead, she was selfish and clung to some debris for most of the night.

She wiped away a rogue tear and nodded to the Australian man in front of her. "Ok," she said finally. "I'm in." What else did she have to lose? If she managed to survive, she could go back home. If she didn't… She could be with Ollie on the other side.

Slade raised his tin cup to her. "Welcome aboard, Lance. I'm Slade Wilson. ASIS. Australian Intelligence. Former Trooper in the Australian Special Air Service Regiment. The SASR. I served in East Timor and Afghanistan." He then took a gulp of his rum. "Rose, Billy, and I were sent here to retrieve a man. Rose died in the crash, and Billy turned his back on me and his country. I was separated from the man we were sent to retrieve."

Slade cleared his throat before looking at her once again. "During the Vietnam war, the SASR were known as the phantoms of the jungle. Are you ready to become a phantom, Lance?

::-:-:-::-:-:-::

Laurel kept Sin close by and maintained a low height as they traversed the ravines and large roots that littered the floor of the jungle. She reminded herself to keep breathing and move slowly. Despite the slow speed, it was taking a toll on the young girl. Laurel stopped and picked up the girl, and remembered that despite spending her young life training to become one of the world's most feared assassins, she was still a child. "Not that far now," Laurel whispered, before taking cover behind a boulder and pulling out her GPS to ensure she was headed in the right direction.

They still had just under two miles to traverse, hopefully, with their slow speed, she would be able to bypass the Society of Shadows if they were going to intercept them on their way to the boat. Laurel, with the girl still in her arms, kept trekking through the dense jungle for almost an hour, when she heard her comms.

 _"Canary."_ Flag's voice came through her device. _"Hold your position, we are having issues contacting your extraction team."_

Laurel knelt down, and allowed the girl to sit against the cool rock, and gave her a chocolate bar from one of the pockets in her vest, as well as some water. "You need to eat to get some strength."

" _Canary, we have a couple of police boats heading in your direction. And judging from the satellite data, there is a person in those woods moving quickly towards your location. Identity Unknown, consider them a threat._ "

Laurel acknowledged her handler before resting against a boulder. From her elevated position, she would see her enemy before they would see her. Laurel took a deep breath focusing on the sounds of the jungle, she noticed the birds had been disturbed to her south.

"Sin, honey." She said. "Come to me." The girl slowly walked to her. Laurel scooped up the girl and started running back towards where she had left the car. It wasn't until they were nearing the end of the jungle, did she have to dive sideways to avoid an arrow.

"Sin, It's Shiva." The woman yelled out. The young girl looked excited and started to stand up, only for Laurel to push her back down.

"Stay," Laurel said to the girl, keeping one hand on the girl's chest.

"Mother says that Lady Shiva is a woman to be respected. To obey."

"Let's just say that I don't follow authority blindly," Laurel told her. She had argued with Slade several times, and especially with her parents growing up. She wasn't about to cower for people who abused children and brainwashed them to become soldiers. To become remorseless killers.

"I need the girl, Canary. I won't hurt her. She is needed back home." The Assassin yelled through the dense vegetation.

Laurel rolled her eyes, before looking at Sin. "Listen to me. Shiva and Mother want you and me dead. If she gets you that's the end, do you understand?"

The girl gave a small nod. Laurel pointed in the direction that the car was and told Sin to run. Laurel peaked around the corner and used her cry.

_SCREEEEEE_

Laurel watched as the trees shook, and sent some of the leaves and dust from the forest floor being swept up and towards the location where the assassin was located. Laurel dashed towards Sin and kept moving, shouting encouragements to the girl, before ordering her into the car. As they made it to the vehicle she used her cry again, before jumping into her car and speeding off and down the dusty road.

Laurel sped through the dusty streets, narrowly avoiding the cars and people in the streets of outer Shiruta. It wasn't until the woman had thrown a knife, breaking the driver's side window, and narrowly missing Laurel, instead of hitting her seat. Laurel noticed Sin moving and pushed her back into her seat. "Stay in the car."

"Shiva can be trusted." The girl insisted.

"I don't know her. My job is to get you somewhere safe."

Laurel pulled out her comms and quickly called Flag using her satellite phone. "We have been compromised, I need to get out of here." She listened as Flag directed her around the maze-like streets. Laurel narrowly avoided being forced off of a wooden bridge by the cops that were constantly hitting the back of her car with theirs.

Laurel watched as the woman that Sin had called Shiva killed some of the cops as she followed them on a motorcycle. Laurel continued through the side streets but realized that Shiva was too close. Laurel turned off the phone and ensured that Sin was wearing her seat-belt before reversing and hitting Shiva's bike, forcing the woman backwards and off her bike, watching for a brief second as the woman was pinned beneath the motorcycle.

Laurel grabbed Sin and carried her up the stairs of an apartment complex. It was the best way to stall for time. She was trying to remember how she and Ted had evaded the French police in Paris by doing something similar. The police and Shiva would have to search every apartment, and every room, which should buy her enough time to take Sin and find a way out of the area while her foes were still searching.

The pair hid in a small alcove and waited a while to watch the police move around the complex doing their sweeps. It reminded her of her Dad. Laurel shook her head, thinking about her dad would only make what she had to do harder. Laurel grabbed her knife, waited for the officer to come looking down into the alcove, and as he did, she sliced the tendon in his wrist, forcing him to let go of his firearm, and then drove the knife into his throat.

She had to protect Sin. The girl was what mattered. If she didn't her Dad, Sara, her Mom, Thea or Oliver could be killed by Waller. All because Laurel couldn't kill people. If she didn't kill some people, Sin would be returned back to the compound, back to Mother, and trained to become a child soldier.

Laurel continued forward slightly, with the little girl latching onto her leg as Laurel stopped. Telling the scared girl to stop there for a second. Laurel rushed forward using her momentum, shoved an officer off the balcony, and slammed the other's head into the cement wall until he stopped moving.

"Let's go, honey," Laurel said softly as she felt the girl's small hands on her legs, as Laurel continued to move forward with her pistol in front of her. She moved up to the stairwell, taking the girl to the roof.

Once on the roof, Laurel kissed the girl's slightly oily hair. "I'm sorry about this." Laurel then threw her across to the other roof, before following. And picking up the girl who seemed to have the reflexes of a cat, with how swiftly she got back on her feet. Laurel quickly checked over the girl before she and Sin moved down the apartment complex, where the pair zigzagged through people's apartments, ignoring their shocked expressions and continuing through until her arm was sliced with a blade.

"A warning, Songbird. Hand me the girl."

Laurel moved to shoot the woman, only for the gun to be quickly kicked out of her hands and received a head-butt to her nose. Laurel staggered backwards, grabbing Shiva's hands, preventing the knife the assassin held as she tried to plunge it into Laurel's throat.

Laurel managed to just force the older woman into the adjacent wall, before using her momentum to throw both of them off of the railing and onto the sails of the stores below. The fabric managed to just break their fall before she hit the hard, searing-hot asphalt.

Laurel could feel her cheek burn as she laid there on the searing hot ground. As she laid there, feeling her skin start to burn from the heat, a memory popped into her head. A piece of wisdom Ted had given her when she felt like she was stuck in amber after she thought she watched Oliver die on the AMAZO.

_"The mark of a person is if they can get back up from the mat. It doesn't matter why you fell, or what's in front_ _or behind_ _you. You need to get back up and endure. You need to stand strong, Dinah."_

She sluggishly managed to get to her feet, repeating what Ted had told her the year before. When Laurel got up she darted towards the knife Shiva had dropped and managed to take it just before the assassin lunged towards her with another knife.

Laurel narrowly dodged the assassin, the blade slicing the fabric of her shirt. Laurel, in turn, thrusted her blade forward, only for Shiva to easily trap her wrist, forcing her to drop the blade and kick it into the storm-water drain. It was now Shiva's turn to lunge, and Laurel barely managed to keep the knife from being plunged into her chest, despite receiving heavy blows to her side.

Laurel ached, and felt like everything in her body was on fire. It wasn't the first time she wished that the Mirakuru had given her enhanced strength, along with her cry. Laurel was repeatedly kicked and punched before Laurel released her cry, forcing Shiva back, but not before Shiva kicked Laurel into the side of the truck watching Laurel slump to the ground.

"You have put up a valiant fight, Songbird. But now it's your time to rest. "The lightning-fast assassin said. "I have enjoyed our time together, but like everything, it must come to an end." Shiva walked towards Laurel but stopped as she heard Sin's voice asking for help.

She walked away from her foe, who was not going anywhere and found the girl with the cops trying to drag her off. Shiva quickly, despite her sore arms from the fall, snapped each officer's neck. Shiva took the girl back towards one of the many cars down the road in order to take the girl back to Mother, to ensure that her daughter was safe.

_SCREEEEE_

Shiva was thrown backwards into the curb on the other side of the road from some sort of sonic boom. Laurel stumbled forward, picking up Sin. "Let's go, honey." She said softly as she jumped into an old sedan and hot-wired it, before driving away from the assassin.

"You pushed her with your voice?" Sin asked quietly.

Laurel nodded as she struggled to stay coherent as she drove. "A special serum gave me my Canary Cry, but gave my old mentor super strength and made him crazy."

Laurel kept driving. "I suppose I should add grand theft auto to my ever-growing list on my rap sheet.

"What?" The girl asked, looking at her with those pretty brown eyes.

"Nothing," Laurel said with a shrug. "Just thinking about my Dad, do you have one?"

"No. Lady Shiva is to have no family, no attachments, no weakness. It is the way."

Laurel gave her a sad look, "I have a friend who is only a few years older than you. She considers me to be like a sister, would you like it if we were like that? Sisters?" Laurel asked as she kept an eye on the helicopter that was following them.

"I don't know." The girl said. "I've never had a sister."

"Well, we can talk about it some more later, talk about food, colors, what it is like in America, and what you love about the place you came from, deal?" Laurel asked, holding out her pinky finger.

Sin wrapped her small finger around Laurel's. "Deal."

"Hop up on my lap." Laurel waited as the girl jumped up on her lap, and waited for the car to go under the bridge, and that is when Laurel jumped out of the car her shoulder and upper arm hitting the ground to prevent the young girl from being injured. Their aerial police tail would assume they died in the crash, at least for a small amount of time.

Laurel picked up Sin, in her arms and moved away through the shadows of the buildings to prevent any tails. "I suppose we can add property damage as well." It wasn't until she heard the girl's breath hitch, and Laurel followed her eyes, did she realize that her arm and elbow were bloody from ditching the car. It was at that moment, she felt her arm was on fire. Laurel bit her lip as she tried her best to push through the pain until they were safe for the moment.

They entered a small sweatshop office, and she dropped her bulletproof vest on the ground and slumped on the chair. Laurel groaned and hissed in pain as she cleaned the wound with alcohol wipes and started to bandage her arm. Waller would definitely be footing the bill for this wound.

Laurel opened up a small container of Ibuprofen and took a couple before taking a swig from her canteen and offering it to the girl. "It's just water."

She watched as Sin happily drank the water and took another candy bar, as Laurel answered her phone. "What do you have for me, Flag?"

Instead of hearing Flag, she heard a different voice, that sounded like Amanda Waller. _"Your new friend is called Sandra Wu-San. A world-class assassin and martial artist. She is the former student of the woman that trained the package. She goes by the name of-"_

"Lady Shiva. I know. We have tangled, and I only won by cheating the system. Considering I'm one of the few known meta-humans to exist, I took my advantage."

" _The entire city is in lockdown, you made quite the impact, Miss Lance. They are currently looking for an American woman with blonde hair. Are you safe_?"

"Laurel blinked, looking outside, seeing no one. "For now."

_"And the child?"_

Laurel sighed looking over at Sin who was watching her while tapping on the table gently. "Sin is with me."

 _"You have grown attached to the girl. It's a weakness."_ Waller said without a hint of emotion.

Laurel bit her cheek, before speaking. "No, it makes me human."

Instead of giving a response to Laurel's dig at Waller's lack of empathy, the woman kept her tone neutral. _"I can have a helicopter waiting for you on the south side of Teth-Adam Plateau. The only condition is that you leave the girl behind, eliminating her would be preferable._ " Laurel was silent for a long while, causing Waller to say Laurel's name a few times.

"That wasn't what we agreed on."

" _Doesn't matter. You have done your job, perhaps I can send you to where Mr. Queen is currently on a mission as a chance for you to both see each other, and earn your freedom that way?"_

"I'm not someone that you can easily push around Amanda. Find another way!" Laurel sneered, doing the best she could, and hoped that the woman would receive the message. Laurel slammed her phone on the table next to her.

"Are you going to leave me alone, Laurel?" The little girl asked, looking extremely small and vulnerable. The look of the sweet girl reminded her so much of Thea when she was around the same age, and how she struggled not to give in to the little girl with pigtails.


	3. Integrity

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A special thanks to the Lauriver Discord for their advice regarding some necessary rewrites.

Laurel bit her lip as a tear slid down her scraped cheek. The salty water stung, causing her to harshly wipe the tears from her eyes. She had no idea what to do. Waller held all the cards, what was to stop her from killing her and Sin during the crossfire?

Did she just doom Oliver to complete servitude to ARGUS? Did she just inadvertently sentence her dad, Sara, and Thea to death?

Laurel looked up when she heard Sin's small voice from the corner of the small office. "Are you going to leave me alone Laurel?"

Laurel shook her head. "I have done many things, things that I'm not proud of, Sweetheart. No, I'm not going to leave you here all alone. "

Sweetheart. She hadn't thought of The Queen Matriarch in a very long time. The last time she recalled the woman was when she had been trying to convince Slade not to kill her. She believed Oliver was dead, and she didn't know if Moira would be willing to foot the bill for her safe return. But despite that, Laurel always admired her for how much she loved her children, almost to a fault.

Laurel shook her head and looked at the petite form of the shivering girl. "Come here." She cooed and allowed the small girl to sit on her lap. And held her with her good arm. "I'm not a good person. No matter how many people say otherwise." A good person wouldn't kill as she had. She should be minimizing her casualties, not adding them to the blood that already soaked her hands.

Hadn't Ted tried to get her to understand the gravity of her decisions? Did she have a choice though? Did she really possess what it took to kill an innocent child?

No. No, she wouldn't be able to live with herself. Some things were just wrong, no matter which way you sliced it. She had her orders, and yet she was going to ignore them. She wasn't going to make the easy choice, she was going to find another way. She would ensure that Sin would be safe and healthy.

She could just imagine Oliver teasing her about always trying to save the world.

Her heart still ached to see him, to hear his voice. To hold him in her arms. God, she missed him so much. Some nights she would wake up expecting him to be beside her, and be repeatedly sad and disappointed that it was not the case.

"I won't leave you behind, darling," Laurel said as she pressed her lips into Sin's raven hair. She felt the girl practically burrow herself into her. The small act forced Laurel to remember that the poor girl had been starved of affection all of her life. "I'm here. And I'm not going anywhere." She pressed another kiss to her crown. She would have to try to find a way to ensure that Sin was able to live a normal life.

"Thank you, Laurel." Sin whispered as she nudged her head into the crook of Laurel's neck. It wasn't long before Laurel heard the soft snores coming from the tired angel.

Her phone vibrated on the desk so Laurel picked it up trying her best not to disturb the sleeping child on her. _"You have your helicopter."_

"And Sin?" Laurel asked immediately.

_"She will be allowed to return with you, and there will be no harm to the child," Waller said stoically. "I hope you understand the gravity of you forcing my hand, Miss Lance. I expect that you will one day return the favor, it's not every day that I have a person with superpowers indebted to me."_

Laurel gritted her teeth. "We will meet you there, Amanda. You better be honest, or I'll be coming for you. I'll be the justice that you cannot run from."

::-:-:-::-:-:-::

Lady Shiva stumbled towards the corner of the building. The cool air made her dislocated shoulder ache. She made her way to the side of the building, away from prying eyes, and slammed her shoulder forcefully back into its socket.

Operative Canary, the Songbird was a talented warrior, that was for sure. If not a little rash. And now there was no doubt in her mind that she was trained by special forces, and possessed other training in martial arts. There was no denying how resilient the woman was. She certainly proved to be a worthy opponent to get back up from her loss, and be prepared to keep fighting, if not for her own life than for the girl.

Shiva exhaled before she pulled out her battered phone and called her sister. It took a few rings before it was answered. _"Sandra?"_

Shiva caught herself smiling, at her sister's voice. "Hello, Carolyn."

_"Something wrong?"_

Shiva sighed, looking out at the lights that littered the road towards the city center. She had no idea where the Songbird and Sin were hiding. They could be hiding anywhere in the city from an apartment, a house, or cowering like a rodent in a small hole.

"You should probably start packing up and get off the grid. Ensure that Cass and yourself are safe, Sister."

_"You too Sandra. I'll put Cassandra on the phone for you."_

Shiva let out a shuttered breath. "Cassandra?"

_"Yes, Mother?"_

"You have to be a good girl for Aunt Carolyn, do as she says. I'll see you soon, my love." She managed to finish before her voice constricted in her throat.

_"Bye Mother. I love you."_

Shiva clicked off the phone. If Mother was planning on killing Cassandra in retribution for her not receiving Sin in time, it would mean that she would send David. And doubtless, he would kill her sister, and put a bullet in their daughter's heart. She had to keep her family safe, long enough for her to finish her mission here in Kahndaq, and defeat the Songbird. She had given her word, and her word was her bond. After this job was done, she was going to heal, before going after Mother, and David to end their long shadow that followed her and her daughter.

::-:-:-::-:-:-::

Laurel gently woke up the sleeping girl in her arms. She then put on her Kevlar vest again, before tying a sling made out of an old shirt in the office. She needed time to let her arm heal, or at the very least rest until she found herself in another fight.

She didn't fancy fighting Shiva again, her canary cry wouldn't be a surprise. She would either have to use it as her first resort or not use it all. No doubt the skilled assassin would come prepared, maybe using some sort of paralytic toxin to her neck, or would find a way for her to be unable to use her cry via some sort of choke.

Laurel took Sin down the long dark alleys of Shiruta. She kept looking over her shoulder waiting for someone to attack them. Surely her dad had to deal with this when he was in The Glades? Did he fear that someone would attack him unawares, and not return home to her and the rest of their family?

It was odd a year ago, when she was training and traveling the world with Ted Grant, she would have said that anywhere was better than purgatory. Lian Yu. She could now never say the same now with such conviction.

She would prefer to be on Lian Yu. Especially if it meant that she just had to survive, and not constantly fight for her life in battle. She could only hope that Ollie wasn't brooding too much. It was something that he had started to develop when he lost Shado and Yao Fei.

Laurel guided Sin past the many parked cars, trying to find a small car that could take the back streets easier. A car that wasn't too modern so that she could hot-wire it with relative ease. Eventually, she stopped at a rusty red sedan. Laurel opened the door, and was surprised to find it unlocked.

She gently directed her new friend into the passenger seat next to her and fiddled with the wires before the car roared to life.

"Okay. Okay." Laurel repeated, as Sin sleepily watched her. Laurel looked up from the steering wheel, to see a man in dark robes standing there in the middle of the dimly lit road. He slowly drew an arrow from his quiver.

Laurel opened the door next to Sin and told her to hide in the small alcove of a door. "Stay there, Sin!"

Laurel shirked off her sling, feeling her arms ache as she did, and threw a large rock at the light above them. She waited silently, as the man slowly walked past the car. She heard his feet crush a few loose rocks before she grabbed a wooden plank and slammed it into the side of his head before kicking out his knees behind him.

She looked up when she heard people shouting, and the little boy that she had allowed to leave unharmed at the compound had returned. He was with a few other adult-sized ninjas. "What the.." She murmured as she watched them advance.

She was a stupid, naïve, altruistic girl. She should have known that the child would be sent back out to redeem himself in the eyes of his death cult. Laurel pulled out a smoke grenade from her webbing and pulled the pin before throwing it near the car.

She waited a few seconds, hearing her would-be-killers coughing and spluttering, Laurel rushed out, snatching the sword from the child's hands, throwing it away from the fight.

She then shoved him towards the car, hearing him slump to the ground, crying. Laurel turned back to one of the ninjas, sending a knife strike to his throat, and snatching his bow from his hand. Laurel briefly had time to adjust to the weight of the bow before using it as a quarter-staff, knocking out the rest. It was a bit unorthodox, and Ted would probably have a stroke from watching her utilize the weapon in such a way, but Laurel was nothing if not resourceful.

Laurel looked over at the child that was sent to kill her, and lent down to his level, handing him a little bit of money, and dropped a bandage for his head. "You don't have to live like this." She said softly before walking back to the car she had hot-wired and ensured that Sin was back in her seat.

Laurel doubted the child knew what she said, or could live a different life. But a small gesture did have the possibility of changing his life for the better, no matter how small of a chance there was, at the very least she couldn't be considered a child killer. She hadn't sunk that low. Not that it made her feel any better.

Laurel looked up to see a police helicopter, she jumped out of the car with Sin and guided her through the sweatshops before jumping into a sewerage pipe. There was no way they could use the car to escape, not with the police searching for them. She and Sin coughed, as they breathed in the putrid smell.

Laurel sat on the dry concrete, adjusted the girl so she was back on her lap, and called the ARGUS number preprogrammed in her phone.

 _"Flag."_ He answered gruffly.

"Where is the closest Safehouse?"

_"Do you have the kid with you?'_

Laurel snarled, ignoring his question. "Yes, I need to know where the safe-house is."

It was a few minutes before Laurel heard Flag's voice. _"I'll send you the directions to my location until then stay put, so the tech guys can send me your location."_

Laurel hung, and with a groan, she laid the phone on the concrete next to her. Sin looked at her bloody arm, "You're hurt."

Laurel exhaled through her nose, "My boyfriend has been shot through the shoulder with an arrow, and been hurt with swords." Tortured was a more apt description, but Sin didn't need to hear about the horrors of Lian Yu. "If he can walk that off, so can I."

"Who is he?"

"Ollie is someone special to me. My Dad doesn't really like him. He doesn't see Oliver as I do, he doesn't want to see that Ollie is a good man under all the posturing and acting like a spoilt billionaire."

She remembered how he had prevented her from being killed by Ivo. She still received a bullet in her chest, but she lived because Oliver saved her there, and again when he gave her the Mirakuru.

"I would like to meet him, and your Dad."

"One day, you will meet my entire family and friends. I promise. You're my family too, now Cindy."

"Sin." The girl corrected.

"Cindy sounds prettier," Laurel argued playfully while tucking the girl's hair behind her ear.

Laurel closed her eyes, it was strange how quickly this girl had wormed her way into her heart. The girl was supposed to be an objective, a package, and somehow Laurel had found a baby sister in the midst of this hell. It was a silver lining, she supposed.

Laurel heard her phone vibrate and looked at the location, before exiting the sewers and carrying Cindy towards the ARGUS safe house.

::-:-:-::-:-:-::

Laurel had just helped Sin bathe and changed her clothes, settling her in bed in the upstairs room before taking a shower herself. She then headed downstairs to speak to Rick Flag. He dropped a pizza box in front of her, and some beer. She finally felt like a person again, now that she had bathed and was wearing clean clothes, and a new black leather jacket.

"Best I could get at a moment's notice. Seems like you woke the dragon, to the point that they have locked down the entire city."

Laurel opened the pizza box, took out a slice, and started eating. It wasn't mushrooms and olives from Marios but it still tasted like heaven. "I appreciate you letting us hide here for now."

The man chuckled. "You have forced every officer in the city to manufacture and guard every roadblock leaving the city. I suspect that they will try to smoke you out, or force the city to turn on you."

Flag excused himself abruptly and left the room. Laurel took a sip of her beer, before taking her bottle and her box of pizza upstairs to share the food with the girl who had wormed her way into her heart.

"I have dinner, Honey," Laurel said, looking at the small body hidden under a sea of blankets.

The girl sprang up and started shoving the food in her mouth. "Chew slowly." Laurel gently chided, watching Sin slow down.

After the girl had eaten several slices, she laid back down but patted the space beside her. Laurel reclined on the bed next to her surrogate baby sister. "What's your last name?"

"Lance."

"That's a weapon."

"Very good," Laurel said proudly. Though she wished that the girl didn't immediately think about weapons and warfare. "It's my Dad's last name."

"What's your mother's name?"

"Drake," Laurel answered, thinking of her distant mother. "What about you? Do you know your last name?" Laurel asked as she laid on her side, ignoring the dull pain in her arm to look at the beautiful little girl next to her.

"No. I'm just Sin. Can I be Cindy Lance?" Asked with a childlike curiosity mixed with apprehension.

Laurel smiled as she kissed the girl's cheek. "Since you don't have a name, and I am the closest thing you now have to a family." At least in the conventional sense, she cared for and loved the girl. It didn't matter that she was trained to be a weapon, an assassin.

"Can I ask you another question, Laurel?" After seeing Laurel's amused smile and nod, the girl continued. "Have you always been this brave?"

Laurel swallowed. "I'm not brave. I'm scared all the time. I'm just doing what I think is right when I can." She said as she left her pistol under Sin's pillow.

"You are though." The girl whispered as her eyes started to droop. "You are a brave sister."

Laurel kissed her again, before gently leaving the bed and heading back downstairs.

Laurel sat out with Flag in his living room, drinking a few more beers, and eating some more pizza. When suddenly the light mood broke, when Flag looked at Laurel, dead in the eyes. "You know that the girl is dead? If she is taken in by Waller she will be in the same position as you found her, she will be trained to be an assassin. If you leave her behind, she will be taken by Mother and tortured, before she is killed. As bad and as callous as this sounds, it's best if you go upstairs and put a bullet in her brain. "

"I can't do that. I won't." Laurel glared at the man.

"The girl is worth a lot. The Police are offering a quarter of a million US dollars for her, dead or alive. You could return home and purchase anything your heart desires. You could live in a fancy mansion like The Queens or Merlyns."

"So you want me to go upstairs and put a bullet between the little girl's eyes?" She felt sick, did Flag truly believe that she would kill a child?

"Aren't you sick of this life, Laurel?" Flag asked, sounding exhausted. "Your mission was rigged from the start. I'm not going to end my life on some stupid suicide mission, not when there are other options on the table."

Laurel growled before punching him in the face and hearing his nose break. "Who did you call?" His nose was lopsided, and blood oozed from his nostrils and down his lips.

Flag gripped his broken nose as he spoke. "We need contacts here in this part of the world, Laurel. Waller doesn't need to know the details, she just wants results. If we get The Society of Shadows to owe us one, or at the very least this Lady Shiva, she will be pleased."

"I'm not Amanda. I don't kill little girls." Laurel kicked the man, only for him to dodge and hold her in a chokehold. Before repeatedly punching Laurel in the stomach. He then threw Laurel into the railing of the stairs. Before Laurel fell, Flag grabbed her, then picked her up into the air, and threw her onto the coffee table, breaking it in the process.

"You are a stupid idealistic girl, too stubborn to see the big picture. After you are dealt with, I'll take care of your family. I told Waller that she should have put Queen on this mission instead of you, he has the balls to make the hard calls." As the large man stood over her, his boot in the air, as he was about to stomp on her head, Laurel heard a gunshot. Before seeing Flag slump to the ground in a loud thump, beside her. Flag gurgled and grunted as he feebly applied pressure to his chest.

Laurel slowly got up to see the shivering, scared form of Sin. "Sweetie?"

"I killed him."

Laurel turned around to see her handler, who had gone rogue. "No, he's not dead." Laurel took the gun and told Sin to close her eyes, and shot the man in the head. "I killed him." She could take that burden, she would have Flag's blood on her hands if it meant that Sin was untainted.

Laurel panted as she moved towards Flag's body. The bastard didn't know Oliver, he wouldn't kill a child. He wasn't a monster no matter how many times he had tried to delude himself into believing it, while they were marooned on the island.

She grabbed Flag's phone so she could call her dad, call the American consulate, or embassy in Kahndaq. Even though she knew those numbers apart from her dad's, there was no way to know if Waller had those lines tapped. Instead, her finger hovered over the number that he had recently called. Laurel pressed the contact, while feeling the little girl, who had quickly become something like a baby sister, had not loosened her grip on her leg. Laurel gently played with the girl's hair as she waited for the phone to start ringing.

A faint sound of a phone buzzing was heard behind her. Laurel slowly turned around, and just managed to step in front of Sin, as a knife flew through the window. Laurel narrowly dodged the knife, the blade nicking the side of her neck.

"Sin hide!" Laurel told the girl, before rushing towards the window, only for Lady Shiva to jump through the shattered glass and kick Laurel in the stomach, sending her backwards. Laurel hit the ground and tried to force herself to crawl away from Shiva to give them some distance, only to be kicked in her side, sending her flying against the wall.

Laurel coughed and spat out some blood. She used the wall to stand, only for the woman to wrap her calloused hands around her throat. Laurel gasped for air, but nothing came out. She couldn't use her cry. Laurel slapped at the assassin's face. Everything started to blur and go dark before Laurel kneed the woman in the abdomen.

The woman, in turn, swept Laurel's legs from beneath her and let Laurel's head hit the ground with a sickening thump. Laurel felt the assassin's hands wrap around her throat once more before Laurel managed to croak. "Please… I need to protect… Sin."

Shiva released her hands from Laurel's throat and allowed Laurel to breathe once again. Laurel coughed. Her whole body ached. This whole mission felt like it should have been conducted by a team and not just herself. All because she had powers, and was easily manipulated into causing a one-woman war against a guild of assassins.

Shiva said nothing as she allowed Laurel to finally get to her feet. Once Laurel stood Shiva finally spoke. "You care about the girl?" Shiva said to Laurel with some sort of curiosity, lacing her voice. "You protect the girl, an innocent as if she were your own. You possess honor, Operative Canary. I will not kill you this day."

Laurel blinked away the dizziness. " I need your help, are you willing to help me? I need to get her into ARGUS Custody"

"Only if you help me after Canary. Quid pro quo. "

Laurel squeezed her eyes shut as she nodded her agreement. It seemed like she was constantly forced to make decisions she didn't want to. She should have followed Ted's advice and headed back home to Starling, and take her life back as Laurel Lance, instead of living like a ghost.

Shiva walked towards the door, "Meet me at this location." Shiva said writing an address on a piece of paper and leaving it on the table next to the door.


	4. Different Roads

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A special thanks to Ray_Writes for inspiring me to write the final scene of the fic, and to Okori for beta reading this chapter.

Laurel had driven Flag's ARGUS issued car to the destination. Right now, all that mattered was that Cindy was entertained by a handheld gaming device that she had found in the house, and had been fed, bathed, was hydrated and had a few hours sleep in the car. She was also safe in the armored car, at least until they were going to be shot repeatedly, and she also had her doubts if the bulletproof windows could stop an arrow.

She waited there for almost an hour as the sun was beginning to rise. It was at that moment that she watched the assassin climb down from the building like some sort of Olympic gymnast. Her long coat fluttered in the breeze.

Laurel gently patted Cindy on her knee before telling her to stay there in the car. Before Laurel left the safe confines of the car, she exhaled and closed her eyes. Praying that this parlay would work.

She exited the car and hobbled towards the older woman, who like Laurel looked like she was favoring one leg over the other. "Cindy speaks highly of you, Shiva. She says that you are a woman of honor, a woman to trust." Laurel had to ensure that everything would work and had to ensure that this Assassin would be able to cooperate with her,

"The girl is intelligent, and I am. As are you, Songbird."

"It's Laurel, and right now, all I care about is that we get the girl out of Kahndaq and into The States. I already have a way out, but I need help to get there." Laurel hesitated as she looked at the woman, who was noticeably unarmed. Not that it meant much to her.

"And you will pay your debt to me by helping me with my problems."

Laurel sighed, "I don't want to kill anymore. I want to be better. I am better than that."

Shiva clicked her tongue, "A shame, you would be a proficient assassin. Nevertheless, I still require your assistance, and I shall add two incentives. One, that you can completely dismantle the Society of Shadows, stop Mother and her current second in command, David Cain. Second, I shall teach you more fighting techniques to add to your arsenal. The latter comes at a small price. The name of your mentors."

"My Dad taught me how to defend myself since I was a girl. My second teacher was an Australian Special Forces Soldier, Slade Wilson. He's dead. My third was Ted Grant, and I don't think he, nor my father would enjoy speaking to a killer. No offense."

"Fair enough, and none taken," Shiva said casually. "It was to sate my curiosity. Why do you want to send the girl to The United States?"

"Cause, I do."

"You love her," Shiva said with a small smile. "You do this for love. For honor. As did I. I was sent to retrieve Cindy." Shiva said the girl's new name as if it was a strange thing to wrap her tongue around. "Or Mother was going to kill my sister and daughter. That will be our mission after we save Cindy."

"ARGUS will have their people ready at the south end of Teth-Adam Plateau. We have a couple of roadblocks between here and there. I'll do my best to ensure that they will be distracted by me. You better not betray me."

Shiva sniffed, looking up at the sky. "I will not, you have my word." She then gestured to Laurel's vest. "And how is it that you plan to do this with only a handgun? Your concussive weapon?"

"I have my ways," Laurel said evasively. She had her pistol, but she would only use that to get their attention initially, and had several magazines so she could wound her foes if they all came towards her.

Cindy ran towards her crying. "You said that you wouldn't leave me!?" She sobbed.

Laurel felt her heart pang at the guilt. She knelt down to Cindy's level. "I promise that we will meet each other again, sometimes different roads lead to the same place. I'm making sure that no one knows where you are. So you can go to America, When I eventually get back home, you can meet my dad, my mom, and my sister Sara."

Cindy held out her pinky finger, "Promise?"

Laurel wrapped her small finger around the girl's finger. "I promise." She then looked up at Shiva, you better keep your promise, or I'll be coming for you."

"You will have no quarrel with me, Songbird."

Laurel kissed Cindy on the cheek, before giving her a small hug. She got up and walked through the alleyways of the area to get to a good vantage spot. Laurel climbed on to a wall, before getting onto a balcony.

She looked down to see the ARGUS car down the road, Laurel turned towards the police blockade, remembering how these men were dirty cops, cops influenced by the death cult. Laurel inhaled as much as she could before using her cry.

_SCREEEEEEEE_

Laurel watched as the police jeeps catapulted into the air and watched as the cops scattered, the debris sometimes catching the cops and forcing them to the ground. Laurel looked to her left to see the ARGUS car bobbing and weaving through the wreckage, while Laurel unleashed another cry to keep their eyes off of the car.

Laurel's eyes widened as she watched the cops aim a missile launcher. She vaulted over a couple of tables and hid in the adjoining room as it exploded. Her ears rang, and couldn't see anything except dust.

Before the dust settled, she heard the cops rush into the room, Laurel grabbing the first cops' rifle, releasing the magazine, and removing the bullet from the chamber before snatching it off him, and using the butt of the rifle as a weapon.

Laurel hid under a table as two cops ran past her and she followed silently, kicking one behind his knees before knocking him out and shooting the other in the kneecap and kicking the gun away. She then moved towards the stairs and waited until the reinforcements got up the first flight of stairs before using her cry again, knocking them down.

Her body ached as she ran down the stairs. It wasn't until she heard gunfire, did she feel her left side felt like it was on fire. She ran around the corner and used the walls to walk towards the final roadblock while holding her side.

::-:-:-::-:-:-::

Shiva drove the girl through the barricades as she heard the destruction and the high-pitched screams of the young woman that she had just taken as a student and a partner. She had encountered many strange things during her time traveling the world. Magic, mystical healing waters, immortals, and time travelers, but she had never anticipated seeing, or rather hearing the screams of a woman that could sweep someone off their feet, or potentially kill them. A person with an enhanced body.

Eventually, the crowds became too much, and Shiva grabbed the girl's hand and left the car behind, and started to make their way over the bridge, when a cop stopped them, asking for identification.

She kept walking with Sin until she had the gunmen on top of her. She grabbed a gun from the man, shooting one, grabbing the other, snapping his neck, and sending a knife blade strike to the final cop's throat, hearing him choke as she continued to make her way across the bridge.

Shiva practically pushed the girl behind the cover of a large truck and threw a knife at the police officers, before they heard The Canary's song. The officers took cover as the woman with the sonic scream joined them behind the truck. "Sin, honey, are you alright?"

Shiva watched as Laurel looked over at the girl as if she were somewhere between a young mother, and an elder sister looking after the young girl. "I'm fine." The girl then looked on the verge of crying as Sin noticed that Laurel was holding her side where she had been shot.

"I'll be alright, Sweetheart." It was a lie, they hadn't even made it halfway across the bridge, and they were pinned down by a hail of gunfire. It wasn't until they heard a helicopter and heard an explosion did they start weaving between the vehicles on the bridge, finally making it to the plateau.

Shiva watched with her keen eyes, as they all got onto the aircraft and ascended into the skies. A well dressed African American woman with harsh eyes looked at Laurel and the girl. "I must say that I am surprised you made it out of Kahndaq, Miss Lance. Even if it was narrowly?" She made a gesture towards Laurel's bruises, her cuts, her arm that had opened back up, and her bullet wound in her side.

"We shall ensure that you are prepared for surgery when we land on the aircraft carrier, The Theodore Roosevelt. Then you can return home with your… new acquaintance." She said, moving her dark eyes towards Cindy, who had fallen asleep with her head against Laurel. The young woman's arm was wrapped protectively around the girl.

"I'm not going home, Cindy is," Laurel said emphatically. "You will ensure that she is safe and happy in Richard Queen's boarding school. You will foot the bill if you don't want this mission to ever come to light."

Waller was about to say something until she looked at the hard glare Shiva was giving her. "She will need a surname, Miss Lance."

"Lance will be fine," Laurel said, kissing the girl's head.

Shiva looked at Laurel, "After you have recovered from your surgery, and said your farewells to the little one, you and I shall first visit a sacred temple on an island in the North China Sea to train before we shall hunt our prey."

Laurel closed her eyes, after she looked over the blue ocean, and felt uneasy. The sea didn't really bring her fond memories, but she was also silently apologizing to everyone she loved back home, and to Oliver, who could very well be heading home himself. Waller wasn't going to allow herself to be continually prodded for information or assistance, even with Shiva beside her. Laurel decided that wouldn't ask after Ollie, she just hoped that he was safe and happy.

::-:-:-::-:-:-::

Laurel was taken on a gurney and watched as Sin and Shiva followed her. Laurel held out her hand to the little girl as they waited for her surgical team to be ready. Laurel pulled off a ring from her finger, one that her parents had given to her for her eighteenth birthday. She looked at it before she gave it to Sin, Laurel took off her chain necklace and threaded the chain through the loop. "My Mom and Dad gave me this ring," Laurel said. "I'm going to give you this, and you have to take care of it because when we meet again I'll want it back."

Cindy clutched onto the necklace with the ring dangling from the golden chain. "I promise, sister.

Laurel leaned over to kiss her as Shiva walked the girl out and towards her ride back to the States. God, Laurel wished that she could have gone with the little girl. But she owed Lady Shiva a debt to help her escape Kahndaq.

"Ms. Lance, you have a visitor."

Laurel looked up as she saw Oliver standing in the opening of the door. "How?"

Oliver walked closer to her, and gently sat on the end of the bed. "Doesn't matter. You're hurt." He said as he eyed her shoulder, then to her side. "I should have swum out of the Amazo that night. I should have tried to find you."

"Ollie, I'm safe. I've been through hell, but we both have."

Oliver gave her a sad smile, before leaning over her to give her a small kiss. "At least after your surgery, you will be going home."

Laurel's eyes became misty-eyed, "I'm not headed home. I think I'm headed back to Lian Yu before I have to help someone save their family."

"I'll do it after I have honored my promise to my friend. I need to go to Russia first."

Laurel shook her head, just feeling Oliver next to her helped her relax, even if it was to end in them separating for god only knows how long, potentially permanently. Despite his sincere offer to take on her burden, this was her cross to bear. "I appreciate that Ollie, but I need to do this. Maybe we will meet each other after we have done everything we need to."

"Sometimes different roads lead to the same place, Pretty Bird." He then smiled, holding her hand, his other hand gently rubbing her leg. "Dinah Laurel Lance, always trying to save the world."

"So are you."

"I'm not."

"You are." She watched as Oliver huffed, and they sat there for a little bit in silence before she heard the nurse telling her that she was about to get ready for surgery soon.

"I'll stay until you recover, but once you wake up then I have to go. I love you, Pretty Bird." He then rolled up his sleeve, revealing a blackbird on his arm. "Wherever I go, you are always with me."

"I love you, and stay safe."

Oliver gave her a final kiss. "You too," He said before leaving the room. She smiled that she was going to see Oliver once more before she had to leave, but unlike him, she wasn't headed to Russia, she was instead headed back to Lian Yu, before heading back out into the world to stop Mother and her companion from killing Shiva's daughter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I left the fic open-ended due to where it sits in the timeline of the show's universe. I currently don't have any intention of writing a sequel.


End file.
